The Revolt Against Rehoboam

1 ^dRehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. 2 And as soon as Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for he was in Egypt, ^ewhere he had fled from King Solomon), then Jeroboam returned from Egypt. 3 And they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all Israel came and said to Rehoboam, 4 ^f“Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you.” 5 He said to them, “Come to me again in three days.” So the people went away.

6 Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men,¹ who had stood before Solomon his father while he was yet alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?” 7 And they said to him, ^g“If you will be good to this people and please them and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.” 8 But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him, and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him. 9 And he said to them, “What do you advise that we answer this people who have said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke that your father put on us’?” 10 And the young men who had grown up with him said to him, “Thus shall you speak to the people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you lighten it for us’; thus shall you say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s thighs. 11 And now, whereas my father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’”

12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king said, “Come to me again the third day.” 13 And the king answered them harshly; and forsaking the counsel of the old men, 14 King Rehoboam spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.” 15 So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turn of affairs brought about by God that the Lord might fulfill his word, ^hwhich he spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

16 And when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, “What portion have we in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. ⁱEach of you to your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, David.” So all Israel went to their tents. 17 But Rehoboam reigned over the people of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah. 18 Then King Rehoboam sent ^jHadoram,² who was taskmaster over the forced labor, and the people of Israel stoned him to death with stones. And King Rehoboam quickly mounted his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. 19 So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

Prologue

1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God ^agave him ^bto show to his servants¹ the things that must soon take place. ^cHe made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 ^dwho bore witness to the word of God and to ^ethe testimony of Jesus Christ, even ^fto all that he saw. 3 ^gBlessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, ^hfor the time is near.

Greeting to the Seven Churches

4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia:

Grace to you and peace from ⁱhim ^jwho is and ^kwho was and who is to come, and from ^lthe seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ ^mthe faithful witness, ⁿthe firstborn of the dead, and ^othe ruler of kings on earth.

To ^phim who loves us and ^qhas freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us ^ra kingdom, ^rpriests to ^shis God and Father, to him be ^tglory and ^udominion forever and ever. Amen. 7 Behold, ^vhe is coming with the clouds, and ^wevery eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail² on account of him. Even so. Amen.

8 ^x“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, ^y“who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Vision of the Son of Man

9 I, John, your brother and ^zpartner in ^athe tribulation and ^bthe kingdom and ^cthe patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos ^don account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 ^eI was in the Spirit ^fon the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice ^glike a trumpet 11 saying, ^h“Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”

12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw ⁱseven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands ^jone like ^ka son of man, ^lclothed with a long robe and ^mwith a golden sash around his chest. 14 ⁿThe hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. ^oHis eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 ^phis feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and ^qhis voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 ^rIn his right hand he held seven stars, ^sfrom his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and ^this face was like the sun shining ^uin full strength.

17 ^vWhen I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But ^vhe laid his right hand on me, ^wsaying, “Fear not, ^xI am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. ^yI died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and ^zI have the keys of Death and Hades. 19 ^aWrite therefore ^bthe things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. 20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and ^cthe seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and ^dthe seven lampstands are the seven churches.

Judgment on Judah’s Enemies

The Resurrection

1 ^hBut on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, ⁱtaking the spices they had prepared. 2 And they found ^jthe stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, ^ktwo ^lmen stood by them in dazzling apparel. 5 And as they were ^mfrightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, ⁿwhile he was still in Galilee, 7 ⁿthat the Son of Man ^omust be delivered into the hands of sinful men and ^pbe crucified and on ^qthe third day rise.” 8 And ^rthey remembered his words, 9 and returning from the tomb they ^stold all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 Now it was ^tMary Magdalene and ^uJoanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, 11 but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and ^vthey did not believe them. 12 But ^wPeter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw ^xthe linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.

On the Road to Emmaus

13 That very day ^ytwo of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles¹ from Jerusalem, 14 and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. 16 ^zBut their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. 18 Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 19 And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was ^aa prophet ^bmighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and ^chow our chief priests and ^drulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was ^ethe one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now ^fthe third day since these things happened. 22 Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. ^gThey were at the tomb early in the morning, 23 and ^hwhen they did not find his body, they came back saying that ⁱthey had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. 24 ^jSome of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” 25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 ^kWas it not necessary that ^lthe Christ should suffer these things and enter into ^mhis glory?” 27 And ⁿbeginning with ^oMoses and ^pall the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

28 So they drew near to the village to which they were going. ^qHe acted as if he were going farther, 29 but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and ^rthe day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at table with them, he took the bread and ^sblessed and broke it and gave it to them. 31 ^tAnd their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And ^uhe vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each other, ^v“Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he ^wopened to us the Scriptures?” 33 And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they ^xfound the eleven and ^ythose who were with them gathered together, 34 saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and ^zhas appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and ^ahow he was known to them in ^bthe breaking of the bread.

Jesus Appears to His Disciples

36 As they were talking about these things, ^cJesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” 37 But they were ^dstartled and ^efrightened and ^fthought they saw a spirit. 38 And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. ^gTouch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40 And when he had said this, ^hhe showed them his hands and his feet. 41 And while they still disbelieved ⁱfor joy and were marveling, ^jhe said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish,² 43 and he took it and ate before them.

44 Then he said to them, ^k“These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, ^lthat everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then ^mhe opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus ⁿit is written, ^othat the Christ should suffer and on the third day ^prise from the dead, 47 and that ^qrepentance for³ the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed ^rin his name ^sto all nations, ^tbeginning from Jerusalem. 48 ^uYou are witnesses of these things. 49 And behold, I am sending ^vthe promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you ^ware clothed with ^xpower ^yfrom on high.”

The Ascension

50 And ^zhe led them out as far as ^aBethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. 51 While he blessed them, ^bhe parted from them and was carried up into heaven. 52 And they ^cworshiped him and ^zreturned to Jerusalem ^dwith great joy, 53 and ^ewere continually in the temple ^fblessing God.